


Grass of Fur and Flower Crowns of Clouds

by Akigriffin



Series: Over the Barricade [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Death, F/M, Flower Crowns, Happy Story, I promise, M/M, Maruis is adorable nerd like he always is, Reincarnation, because we all need those, but he won't stay the main character, canon time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7623826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akigriffin/pseuds/Akigriffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marius reunites with his friends after his death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grass of Fur and Flower Crowns of Clouds

The first thing Marius registered was the softness under him. Something that smelt like grass, but felt like expensive fur. The air around him was warm; neither hot nor cold. A memory came to him; laying in bed, knowing this time he wouldn’t get up. But that was fine. 

Then he heard voices. Familiar voices he hadn’t heard in well over forty years. 

“You don’t make nearly as nice a pillow as Enjolras,” someone was complaining.

“That’s a lie and you know it. Anyway, you’re the one that decided to use me as a substitute.”

“Can you get me more flowers” came another voice. “This is almost finished.”

“You’ll use the whole garden at this rate!”

“They grow back so quick.”

“I’ll get them,” someone else said.

It was at this point that Marius finally got himself to open his eyes.

He was staring up at a blue sky that was dotted with the fluffiest looking clouds. He rolled to his side and immediately recognized the Jardin Du Luxembourg. It was brighter, and the large ring of flowers looked nicer than he ever remembered, but there was no doubt. 

“Oh!” There are a lot of voices, Marius thought. “He’s finally waking up.”

Then there was someone in his line of vision, blocking the flowers. He looked up at the face.

“Took you long enough to join us.”

Joly, Marius’ mind supplied. “You look the same as…”

“When I died? We all do. Aside from you and Cosette, I assume. Unless you found the secret to never ageing, but she assured us that was not true.”

“Cosette?” Marius exclaimed, finally sitting up. “She’s here?”

“Of course. She is off on a walk. But she’ll be back. We didn’t know it would be today that you’d join us.”

Joly stood up. “Come on. At least sit with the rest of us while we wait.” He held his hand out and helped Marius up.

“It feels...strange,” Marius said, referring to everything. 

“It feels nice.”

Marius finally looked over to where all the voices had come from before. There mingled most of his friends, filled with cheer and contentment that had not been there at the end.

Bossuet was standing closest to him and Joly, grinning brightly. Combeferre was leaning against the base of a statue, a book open in his lap, though his attention was on Courfeyrac who was picking flowers. Next to Combeferre sat Jehan, happily making an elaborate flower-crown. A few feet from them laid Bahorel with Grantaire resting his head on his stomach. 

“I wanted to finish this before you woke up,” Jehan told him with a smile as he took the tulips out of Courfeyrac’s hands. “It was to be your welcome gift.”

“It won’t die,” Grantaire grumbled without opening his eyes. “I tried everything. It’s been two months. Flowers are supposed to die!”

“I believe,” Combeferre said, “that technically they /are/ dead. Like us.”

Joly pushed Marius down to sit with everyone. His eyes were still flitting around, unable to fully grasp what was going on.

“So we’re dead?”

“Right,” Bahorel confirmed.

“This is heaven, then?”

“We’re not really sure,” Combeferre told him. “We’ve come to the conclusion that it is some kind of limbo. A place between Earth and whatever is next.”

“There’s a barricade,” Bossuet said, “and the people who go over it don’t come back. Only a few seem to stay here.”

“You all did?”

“They were waiting for us.”

Marius’ head snapped around to find Cosette, as beautiful as the day he had fallen in love with her, standing behind him. He clambered to his feet and as soon as he was standing, she had her arms around him.

“Cosette, my love! The last years without you have been unbearable! To see you again, my heart swells!”

“I have to stand more of the spoken dance of love, from yet more people?” Grantaire bemoaned.

“Just because you display your love in a more physical manner does not give you the right to complain,” Bossuet told him. “We see enough of you and Enjolras.”

“Enough of us for what?” Marius saw the familiar golden curls of the group’s leader as the man neared him. “You’ve finally joined us,” Enjolras said, pleased, when he caught sight. 

Marius nodded. “Wait,” he said suddenly. “What were you saying?”

“Huh?” Bossuet looked back at him. “Oh. That Enjolras and Grantaire cannot keep their hands off each other?”

“That is simply not true,” Enjolras said, even has he took Bahorel’s place as Grantaire's pillow. 

Marius stared at the two of them. “But-“

“Ah, yes,” Courfeyrac said. “You missed the grand declaration of love right before their death.”

“There was no such thing!” Enjolras protested. 

“You said you died holding hands,” Jehan said, placing his finished crown on Marius’ head. “It sounds very romantic.”

“I was making a point,” Grantaire insisted.

At that moment, Gavroche came running across the grass. “Finally! We can go over now, right?”

“Soon, Gavroche,” Courfeyrac laughed. “Even here he can not stop,” he said to Marius.

“I don’t see why there is such a rush,” said Musichetta, who had joined them behind the young boy. “It’s nice here. The barricade isn’t going anywhere.” She kissed both Joly and Bossuet on the cheek. “Let Marius enjoy the breeze for awhile, then we can find Éponine and Feuilly.”

There was muttered agreement from everyone except Gavroche, and soon they were lying quietly, savoring being together.

A few hours later (or so Marius presumed; time was flowing oddly), Enjolras stood up, much to the frustration of Grantaire, and decided it was time.

The streets of Paris felt kinder and softer than Marius ever remembered. It was quiet other than the voices of his friends.

“Do you feel that?” Cosette asked, squeezing his hand. “That pull?”

Marius did. He knew he was supposed to be going where he was going; heading where he was heading.

“We’ve been ignoring it for the months we’ve been waiting,” Joly told him. “And now we can find out why we are drawn this way.”

“I made you all wait?”

“No,” Enjolras corrected. “It was our choice.”

They turned a corner and Marius stopped short.

In front of them stood a barricade of a monstrous height. Though instead of being intimidating, it felt...safe.

“See,” Grantaire was saying, “If you build yours as well as that, maybe we wouldn’t have died.”

“You say that every time,” Enjolras replied, exasperated. 

“Are you sure they’re…?” Marius whispered to Cosette.

“In love? Very much so. They have a strange way of showing it, don’t they?”

Marius nodded before he heard his name being called. 

“Éponine!” he managed before the woman had run over and hugged him tightly. Cosette just laughed from beside them.

“That means we have everyone?” Feuilly asked.

Enjolras looked at each one of them in turn and nodded. Together they all climbed. Despite the height, none of them tired. 

The other side of the barricade was fuzzy. It was like looking into the clouds. 

“Anyone afraid?” Jehan asked. 

No one answered. 

“Alright,” he said before taking a step off. Instead of falling he simply disappeared. Bahorel went next, holding onto Gavroche's hand, followed by Joly and Musichetta with Bossuet between them. Éponine and Feuilly walked off, then Combeferre and Courfeyrac, shoulder to shoulder, then Grantaire and Enjolras, hands grasped firmly together.

All that was left was Cosette and Marius. 

“Ready?” She asked. He nodded and together they stepped forward. The brightness was overwhelming for just a moment.

Then there was nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> The rest of the series focuses on everyone, though mainly Enjoras and Grantaire and will be very different than this.
> 
> As always, come drop by my tumblr if you want: http://akigriffin.tumblr.com/  
> And Betaed by the tired and over-worked BB (underlonelyskiesthewolvescry)


End file.
